24,987 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Bought by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Perigon Wealth Management acquired a new stake of 24,987 shares in Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) in Q4, valued at about $958,000, as part of the stock's 74.78% institutional ownership.
• The company beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.47 vs. $0.36 and revenue of $699.1M, up 15.7% year-over-year.
• Essential Utilities declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426 (annualized $1.37), implying a 3.4% yield and a payout ratio near 62% (ex-dividend May 12, payable June 1).

Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 24,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 43.6% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WTRG. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.89 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.32. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.32 and a one year high of $42.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.60 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The company's revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 61.99%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.

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